The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

In this report:

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. The Importance of the Census
3. Census Accuracy: The Undercount (and Overcount)
4. Census 2010: Key Operations and Milestones; How You Can Get Involved
   1. Overview of the census plan
   2. What you need to know
   3. How you can help
5. Additional Information
   1. Frequently asked questions
   2. Facts and figures
   3. Census history

Workers

Decennial census data provide the basis for local, state, and federal policy makers to make critical decisions affecting workers and their families. In particular, census information is used for the following:

• Identifying local areas eligible for grants to implement job training and other employment programs under the Job Training Partnership Act;
• Pinpointing state and local areas with a labor force surplus for programs that promote business opportunities under the Labor Surplus Areas Program;
• Monitoring and enforcing employment discrimination laws under the Civil Rights Act; and
• Planning job training programs for seniors under the Older Americans Act.

Census information is also used to distribute approximately $12 billion in funds for the following federal programs that are beneficial to workers and their families:

• Unemployment insurance;
• The Workplace Investment Act provides funding to help adults, dislocated workers, and youth find employment that leads to self-sufficiency through various services available at local support centers;
• The Employment Service focuses on providing a variety of employment related labor exchange services, including, but not limited to, job search assistance, job referral, and placement assistance for job seekers, re-employment services to unemployment insurance claimants, and recruitment services to employers with job openings;
• The Senior Community Service Employment Program;
• Native American Employment and Training;
• Prisoner Reentry programs seek to reduce recidivism by helping former inmates find work when they return to their communities largely through faith-based and community organizations; and
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program (WOTC) and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit (WtWTC).

Local governments in particular require data at the neighborhood level for school planning, transportation, and economic development. They use census data to:

• Fund child care to enable low-income and working families to work, train for a job, or obtain an education;
• Fund health care for infants and children;
• Fund policing agencies and community-based entities to work together to reduce crime;
• Fund local agencies for food, health care, and legal services for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities;
• Develop and strengthen the criminal justice system's response to violence against women; and
• Determine the number of people eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits.

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